As remote as it is, Suvarov (or Suwarrow) has been the most
\nsociable place we have been so far. There are about 12 boats
\nhere right now with boats coming and going every few days, but
\nwe know most of them. There is a big pot-luck party nearly every
\nnight on shore – right on the beach, under the palm trees, and
\nthere was a full moon just a few nights ago so it is especially
\nbeautiful. One of the men on the boats is a very keen fisherman,
\nand he usually supplies the main course – fresh fish that he
\nbarbecues up for us on the spot. Yesterday it was grouper. Last
\nnight some of the musically gifted people who happen to be here
\ndecided to perform and we had such a great time. Our friends
\nAlexandra and Peter from “Rishu Maru” had a band in Austria –
\nshe is a singer and he is a guitarist and composer – and they
\nperformed for us. Jazzy stuff. Really nice. Gail, from the boat
\n“Fifth Season” is a professionally trained singer who
\naccompanies herself on a mid-sized harp! She sang French, Irish
\nand American songs of all styles. Another guy, Tom, from the
\nboat “Rasa Manis” is a musicologist who studied in Indonesia and
\nwas there when Mark was there 30 years ago (his boat name is
\nIndonesian for sweet,pleasant place). He sang bawdy sea songs.
\nAnother group of people with guitars just strummed along as we
\nall sang some old corny folk songs. So much fun. All we needed
\nwas for someone like Uncle Itz to be here and the singing would
\nhave gone on all night. The caretakers of the island are very
\nsweet, mellow people and they come to the pot-luck parties every
\nnight (except Sundays) – and they bring fried coconut pancakes –
\nvery much like potato latkes.<\/p>\n
Thanks to a timely e-mail from Frannie we stayed up late two nights ago
\nto watch the lunar eclipse. It was absolutely breathtaking from here.
\nPerfectly clear night with shooting stars ,
\npalm trees in the background and warm tropical breezes. We could
\nwatch it through the hatch right in the forward berth of the boat so we
\ndidn’t even have to get out of bed to watch it. Fantastic. <\/p>\n
Mark just hopped in the dinghy to go fishing with Peter. He
\nwants to try his hand at catching grouper. More later…
\nL.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
As remote as it is, Suvarov (or Suwarrow) has been the most sociable place we have been so far. There are about 12 boats here right now with boats coming and going every few days, but we know most of them. There is a big pot-luck party nearly every night on shore – right on … <\/p>\n